BRUSSELS, June 24 (Reuters) - Germany has put forward a new
proposal to weaken EU draft rules on vehicle emission limits for
carbon dioxide as it struggles to persuade other nations to help
it protect its powerful car industry, EU sources said.

Talks on a legal text are in their final stages, but German
efforts to ensure its luxury car makers, such as BMW
and Daimler, can continue to produce more polluting,
less fuel efficient cars, have complicated the debate.

Last week, Germany had to abandon another proposal it had
made because it did not get enough support, the sources said.

"The latest German proposals are causing problems and really
came very late. I'm not sure if we can get a deal," one EU
diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Ireland, holder of the EU presidency until the end of the
month, has said it hopes to get a political agreement and will
take part in what is meant to be a final set of talks on Monday.

The proposal from the Commission, the European Union's
executive, sets a goal of 95 grams of carbon dioxide per
kilometre (g/km) as an average for new vehicles sold in Europe
from 2020.

Each manufacturer is assigned an individual target to take
account of the nature of their fleet and their past cuts.

But making less-polluting cars is costly and restricts
profit margins, which is why major German manufacturers want to
delay the stricter rules.

The previous German plan, which member states rejected in a
meeting last week, would have allowed carmakers to carry over
credits to pollute accrued before the new rules kick in.

Known as supercredits, these permits are earned if
manufacturers produce some very low emissions vehicles, such as
electric cars, which German firms are making to meet a separate
national target.

BANKING VERSUS MULTIPLYING

The new German proposal has replaced the unpopular idea of
accruing supercredits, known as banking, with another technical
device, referred to as a multiplier.

It would still buy time for German manufacturers because it
would multiply the number of supercredits a manufacturer earns
for each low emission vehicle. Talks on Monday will include
haggling over the level of the multiplier.

Germany and its carmakers have repeatedly defended
supercredits, saying they encourage innovation.

Another diplomat, who also asked not to be named, said the
multiplier gave an incentive to produce very low emission
vehicles.

The Commission, whose original proposal set a limit on
supercredits, says the problem is that too many of them mean
producers can carry on making higher emissions models and
emissions levels will fail to meet the 2020 95 g/km target.

Germany as a whole is at the upper end of the EU emissions
range, with 147 g/km in 2011, according to the International
Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT).

The EU fleet average is around 132 g/km, so it should meet
an existing goal of 130 g/km phased in between 2012 and 2015.

Independent research shows consumer appetite for vehicles
that use less fuel and emit less carbon dioxide has grown as the
economic slowdown has dragged on.

It also finds any increase in purchase costs because of
improved technology is more than made up for in fuel savings.
These help to curb dependence on costly oil imports and increase
citizens' spending power, which feeds into the wider economy.

Analysis by British-based consultancies Ricardo-AEA and
Cambridge Econometrics published on Monday studied various
scenarios and found improved vehicle technology could deliver
between 58 billion euros ($76.19 billion) and 83 billion euros a
year in fuel savings by 2030 across the European Union.

It also found innovation could create between 500,000 and
1.1 million jobs by 2030. That takes into account jobs lost, for
instance in the refining industry, during the transition.
($1 = 0.7612 euros)
(Editing by Greg Mahlich)